Web Security Issues and Solutions

Web Security Issues and Solutions

Introduction

Today we enjoy increased sophistication in computer and internet technologies, in terms of power, storage capacity and communication speed. Various sorts of applications including personal, business and government continue to multiply on the Internet. The Internet has undoubtedly become essential for the world's economic competitiveness, innovation and well being. Though, advanced internet technologies have many advantages, However, the growth in technology also increases the opportunity of cyber crime and threats for web security (Edward, 2006). The network-based applications often pose security risks to individuals as well as to the information resources of companies and governments. The world wide connectivity of computer network has made computer crime an international issue. Web security deals with the protection of computers, networks, databases, web servers, data centers and applications, by designing effective procedures and methodologies. The common web security issues often create serious problems for general public and organizations; the issues range from password theft, data theft, network attacks, and many more. This paper discusses some of the common web security issues and the possible solutions to them.

Common Security Issues

Computers are now used in every area, which motivates the hackers for targeting (Lemieux, 2011) Networks are now designed and made to facilitate every one with the sharing and distribution of data quickly and easily. It is problematic to control access to these resources because the requirement for accessing the available information has to balance with the value of the content of that information. Therefore, intruders can easily enter into the system by using a little technology.

The most common issues faced by the internet users today include, Cross-site scripting, path traversal, SQL injection, phishing, cross site request forgery, Internal threats, Social Engineering, Email viruses, internet worms, and Distributed Denial of Service attacks (Heilmann, 2010). In the following, we discuss three security issues and their possible solutions are discussed briefly:

Denial of Service Attacks

A denial-of-service (DoS) attack prevents the actual users from accessing a computer or website (Lin P.H.D, 2000). In this attack, a hacker attempts to overload or shut down a computer or numerous computers. It does not involve any stealing or loss of data, but the interruption of service causes serious loss for the company. To deal with this attack, a user community strikes at a malicious website frequently, for example, while running screensavers.

Phishing

Phishing is a technique which uses bogus emails and websites to ...